April 16, 2009 - Press Statement: Hong Kong’s foreign domestic workers (FDWs) under the Asian Migrants Coordinating Body (AMCB) reiterate our call to the Legislative Council (Leg Co) and Labour Department to include them in the statutory minimum wage (SMW). The FDWs render valuable services to the HK society as part of its workforce – not the least of which is taking care of the elderly and the children – and thus, to exclude them from the SMW is unjust and discriminatory.
If the FDWs are already covered by the Labour Ordinance, why are we now being excluded from such a fundamental labour policy as the SMW? Such a move will contravene even conventions of the International Labor Organization (ILO) regarding wage and related matters such as ILO Convention No. 97 Migration for Employment Convention (Revised), 1949.
With this exclusion, the wage of FDWs shall still be governed by the system of the Minimum Allowable Wage (MAW) which is just an Executive decision and thus can be subjected anytime to salary cuts, like in 1999 and 2003, especially now that a recession has engulfed Hong Kong and the rest of the world. It is ironic and very unprincipled to have a minimum wage reduced.
Furthermore, the ILO itself stated in its ILO–EC Conference in Brussels in 30–31 October 2008 that a minimum wage and collective bargaining may, for instance, help limit the decline in purchasing power and protect the most vulnerable workers. The number of low pay workers is likely to increase in Europe (because of the recession). A wage floor could thus play an important role in this difficult period as a tool for motivating workers and mitigating poverty. FDWs are included in the SMW’s of France and those outside Europe such as Australia and Ontario, Canada.
As one of the lowest paid workers in Hong Kong, FDWs urgently need the SMW as one possible way for increasing the wage to cope with the current crisis.
The AMCB also deems it dangerous for the LAB to use the condition that FDWs work 16 hours a day or more as a basis for the exclusion. This is tantamount to saying that such slave-like working hours is acceptable. While it is true that the working hours of FDWs are different from other workers, it is not impossible to set an SMW for FDWs as shown in other countries like France or Australia.
FDW wage should not be sacrificed merely because it is more convenient just to let the current exploitative condition remain.
The AMCB is already in the process of formulating a submission for the Labour Department on FDW inclusion to the SMW. We call on to the Labour Department, the LegCo and the HK government to heed the call of FDWs to be treated as workers and, thus, should not be excluded from a very important legislation as the minimum wage.
Finally, the AMCB calls on to our fellow workers among the local trade unions to remain steadfast in the demand to have all workers covered by the SMW. Only if all workers are protected can we really be confident that the rights of workers will be upheld.
Tuesday, 21 April 2009
Wednesday, 18 March 2009
Stop the Abuse of Foreign Domestic Workers
The recent attack on the foreign domestic worker known only as Siami, for simply making the porridge ‘too thin’ highlights the continued abuse that many foreign domestic workers (FDWs) are exposed to on a daily basis. Siami, 27, was subject to being scolded with water and then physically assaulted by her employer for this minor error. Cut off from the world, many work extremely long days consisting of between 12-16 hours and are usually deprived of a day off. Despite this, many in the public, political and social sphere continually overlook this occupation, failing even to define the occupation as work.
The abuses faced by FDWs should not be view as a consequence of merely a few bad employers, as there are many cases that go unreported and these include serious physical and sexual abuses. There remain few practical oversight mechanisms in place in order to provide domestic workers with the ability to report any abuses or ill treatment. Furthermore, domestic workers are deprived of one paid day off a week, and in fact most do not get a rest day off throughout the whole year and this further impedes their ability to cry for help.
Such abuses as those that Siami was exposed to occurred precisely because they are treated as “maids” and not like any other worker who are protected under existing labour legislation. Under Malaysian law, FDW are defined only as domestic servants under the Employment Act 1955. As such the Employment Act of Malaysia continues to categorically exclude domestic workers from labour protection provisions such as regulating hours of work, holidays, days off, termination, and overtime pay. Domestic workers are the lowest paid workers (especially Indonesians like Siami) in the absence of a legal minimum wage.
As a consequence of this, they do not enjoy the benefits and rights enshrined to other workers under this legislation or other labour laws such as the Industrial Relations Act or the Trade Union Act. It is very unfortunate that the only right they are entitled to is the ability to claim unpaid wages through the Labour Court.
Not only are FDW deprived of the labour rights accommodated to other forms of worker, their access to justice is also hindered by the fact that they can be deported once abusive employers cancel their existing work permits. While employers or agents hold a domestic workers’ passport if they escape, police may arrest and detain any foreign worker without valid documents. This means that these workers are often confined to the workplace where their means to escape abuse are extremely limited.
Employers are frequently known to ensure that they remain isolated and solely dependent on the family by forbidding workers to use telephones or leaving the house unaccompanied by employers. Added to this is the fact that the work permit issued by the Immigration department does not allow the domestic worker to change place of work or employer when she is abused.
The Immigration Department’s guidelines on the application for domestic workers clearly states that “The employer must allow the PRA (foreign domestic worker) one rest day weekly”. However, FDWs are often deprived of this rest day weekly except for the Filipino FDWs.
CARAM Asia strongly asserts that the Malaysian government must immediately revaluate the protection mechanisms of this demographic and mustn’t continue to view violations faced by DWs and FDWs as singular cases perpetrated by only a handful of employers.
This form of extreme institutionalised exploitation of domestic workers has been ongoing for the past three decades. In fact it is clear that the previously listed rights violations ferment an environment of bonded labour with intense servitude and debt bondage that constitutes trafficking in persons. Moreover, the cycle of abuses that are inflicted on FDWs will continue until the Malaysian government protects the rights of domestic workers by guaranteeing the rights through the law and setting up of appropriate oversight mechanisms.
CARAM Asia calls for the government to:
• Enact a Domestic Worker Act to grant equal labour rights to domestic workers just like any other rights given to other workers.
• Enforced a standard employment contract for FDWs without discrimination based on their nationalities.
The standard contract must ensure that:
• FDWs gets a weekly paid day off, Sick leave, maternity leave, and annual leave
• Employers are required to give workers at least continuous period of eight hours of sleep everyday, provide three adequate meals per day to domestic workers, over and above their salary, to provide a decent separate room meeting health standards
• Domestic workers be permitted to hold personnel belongings, among these are mobiles, the Koran, their passport, their contract, and so on
• Workplace injury compensation and comprehensive health insurance guaranteed
• Payment must be made directly to domestic workers monthly, not to the agent
• Domestic workers are required to fulfil the work duties laid out in the agreed contract and shall not be required to undertake tasks outside the job description with anyone else and other rights as accorded to other workers.
Malaysia must do more to meet with its exiting international obligations to protect domestic workers.
Malaysia has committed to uphold human rights protections as defined in the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). They must ensure that domestic law and its enforcement comply with their international obligations to protect the rights of women and to guarantee equality under the law. The CEDAW General Recommendation 26 specifically mentioned that domestic workers “are protected by labour laws including wage and hour regulations, health and safety codes, and vacation leave regulations.”
Malaysia has also ratified several ILO conventions, including the ILO Forced Labour Convention (No. 29), the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention (No. 182), and the ILO Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention (No. 98). As such, Malaysia has an obligation to protect the rights of workers as set forth in those treaties. Moreover, the ILO is in the process of developing a proposed Domestic Workers Convention to be adopted by 2011. Therefore, Malaysia should develop a domestic legislation specifically to protect domestic worker and become an example of best practises in this area prior to ILO’s Law and Practice report on the situation of domestic worker. As a member of ASEAN, Malaysia has also signed the Declaration on the Protection and Promotion of Migrant Workers Rights in 2007, and therefore should also uphold the principles laid out in the declaration to protect the rights of all migrant workers.
The abuses faced by FDWs should not be view as a consequence of merely a few bad employers, as there are many cases that go unreported and these include serious physical and sexual abuses. There remain few practical oversight mechanisms in place in order to provide domestic workers with the ability to report any abuses or ill treatment. Furthermore, domestic workers are deprived of one paid day off a week, and in fact most do not get a rest day off throughout the whole year and this further impedes their ability to cry for help.
Such abuses as those that Siami was exposed to occurred precisely because they are treated as “maids” and not like any other worker who are protected under existing labour legislation. Under Malaysian law, FDW are defined only as domestic servants under the Employment Act 1955. As such the Employment Act of Malaysia continues to categorically exclude domestic workers from labour protection provisions such as regulating hours of work, holidays, days off, termination, and overtime pay. Domestic workers are the lowest paid workers (especially Indonesians like Siami) in the absence of a legal minimum wage.
As a consequence of this, they do not enjoy the benefits and rights enshrined to other workers under this legislation or other labour laws such as the Industrial Relations Act or the Trade Union Act. It is very unfortunate that the only right they are entitled to is the ability to claim unpaid wages through the Labour Court.
Not only are FDW deprived of the labour rights accommodated to other forms of worker, their access to justice is also hindered by the fact that they can be deported once abusive employers cancel their existing work permits. While employers or agents hold a domestic workers’ passport if they escape, police may arrest and detain any foreign worker without valid documents. This means that these workers are often confined to the workplace where their means to escape abuse are extremely limited.
Employers are frequently known to ensure that they remain isolated and solely dependent on the family by forbidding workers to use telephones or leaving the house unaccompanied by employers. Added to this is the fact that the work permit issued by the Immigration department does not allow the domestic worker to change place of work or employer when she is abused.
The Immigration Department’s guidelines on the application for domestic workers clearly states that “The employer must allow the PRA (foreign domestic worker) one rest day weekly”. However, FDWs are often deprived of this rest day weekly except for the Filipino FDWs.
CARAM Asia strongly asserts that the Malaysian government must immediately revaluate the protection mechanisms of this demographic and mustn’t continue to view violations faced by DWs and FDWs as singular cases perpetrated by only a handful of employers.
This form of extreme institutionalised exploitation of domestic workers has been ongoing for the past three decades. In fact it is clear that the previously listed rights violations ferment an environment of bonded labour with intense servitude and debt bondage that constitutes trafficking in persons. Moreover, the cycle of abuses that are inflicted on FDWs will continue until the Malaysian government protects the rights of domestic workers by guaranteeing the rights through the law and setting up of appropriate oversight mechanisms.
CARAM Asia calls for the government to:
• Enact a Domestic Worker Act to grant equal labour rights to domestic workers just like any other rights given to other workers.
• Enforced a standard employment contract for FDWs without discrimination based on their nationalities.
The standard contract must ensure that:
• FDWs gets a weekly paid day off, Sick leave, maternity leave, and annual leave
• Employers are required to give workers at least continuous period of eight hours of sleep everyday, provide three adequate meals per day to domestic workers, over and above their salary, to provide a decent separate room meeting health standards
• Domestic workers be permitted to hold personnel belongings, among these are mobiles, the Koran, their passport, their contract, and so on
• Workplace injury compensation and comprehensive health insurance guaranteed
• Payment must be made directly to domestic workers monthly, not to the agent
• Domestic workers are required to fulfil the work duties laid out in the agreed contract and shall not be required to undertake tasks outside the job description with anyone else and other rights as accorded to other workers.
Malaysia must do more to meet with its exiting international obligations to protect domestic workers.
Malaysia has committed to uphold human rights protections as defined in the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). They must ensure that domestic law and its enforcement comply with their international obligations to protect the rights of women and to guarantee equality under the law. The CEDAW General Recommendation 26 specifically mentioned that domestic workers “are protected by labour laws including wage and hour regulations, health and safety codes, and vacation leave regulations.”
Malaysia has also ratified several ILO conventions, including the ILO Forced Labour Convention (No. 29), the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention (No. 182), and the ILO Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention (No. 98). As such, Malaysia has an obligation to protect the rights of workers as set forth in those treaties. Moreover, the ILO is in the process of developing a proposed Domestic Workers Convention to be adopted by 2011. Therefore, Malaysia should develop a domestic legislation specifically to protect domestic worker and become an example of best practises in this area prior to ILO’s Law and Practice report on the situation of domestic worker. As a member of ASEAN, Malaysia has also signed the Declaration on the Protection and Promotion of Migrant Workers Rights in 2007, and therefore should also uphold the principles laid out in the declaration to protect the rights of all migrant workers.
Commemoration of Flor Contemplacion’s Death
The International Migrant Alliance (IMA), an alliance of 112 progressive grassroot migrant workers’ organizations from all over the world, stands with Migrante International in commemorating the death of Flor Contemplation, an OFW who was hanged 14 years ago by Singapore Government. IMA honors Flor Contemplation and migrants from other countries who sacrificed their lives for the sake of their families’ survival and in the process, faced death abroad. IMA strongly condemns the failure of the Philippine Government and other sending governments, in saving the lives of their own people and in protecting their rights, welfare and access to justice.
Today, the death of Flor Contemplation symbolizes, for millions of Filipino migrant workers and those from other countries, the cruelty of Labour Export Program implemented by Filipino government and other sending countries, that follow agendas of neoliberal globalization that exchange remittances for the lives of migrant workers.
In the name of development, imperialist countries have established the GFMD to legitimize forced migration and intensify exploitation of migrant workers further in order to import as much cheap labor as they require without the attendant accountability to protect their rights as workers and human beings.
With the on going financial crisis, sending and receiving governments have created more reasons to exploit migrant workers to cover up the failure of neo liberal globalization. Many sending governments have declared their plan in increasing the number of export of migrants starting 2009 while receiving government through GFMD has expressed their needs of importing more migrant workers for the temporary, flexible and cheap labor migrants provide to monopolists.
Definitely more lives of migrant workers will be sacrificed by the imperialist countries and countless more will die due to the neglect of sending governments.
While Flor’s death continues to symbolize the condition that migrants face, the IMA also takes note of the fact that the tragedy that befell her has also triggered a surge of the progressive movement of overseas Filipinos at Flor’s death showed to the Filipinos and the international community the real face of the LEP of the Philippine government.
On this day, we are lamenting the tragic death of Flor. We decry the prevailing condition that makes Filipino migrants vulnerable to abuses and exploitation.
However, let this day also inspire us to pursue our actions for the rights and wellbeing of migrant workers.
Let there be no more Flor. Such will only happen in a society that is free from imperialist hold, truly democratic, just, peaceful and genuinely serves the interest of the people and not of the oppressors.
Long live international solidarity!
Eni Lestari
IMA Chairperson
Today, the death of Flor Contemplation symbolizes, for millions of Filipino migrant workers and those from other countries, the cruelty of Labour Export Program implemented by Filipino government and other sending countries, that follow agendas of neoliberal globalization that exchange remittances for the lives of migrant workers.
In the name of development, imperialist countries have established the GFMD to legitimize forced migration and intensify exploitation of migrant workers further in order to import as much cheap labor as they require without the attendant accountability to protect their rights as workers and human beings.
With the on going financial crisis, sending and receiving governments have created more reasons to exploit migrant workers to cover up the failure of neo liberal globalization. Many sending governments have declared their plan in increasing the number of export of migrants starting 2009 while receiving government through GFMD has expressed their needs of importing more migrant workers for the temporary, flexible and cheap labor migrants provide to monopolists.
Definitely more lives of migrant workers will be sacrificed by the imperialist countries and countless more will die due to the neglect of sending governments.
While Flor’s death continues to symbolize the condition that migrants face, the IMA also takes note of the fact that the tragedy that befell her has also triggered a surge of the progressive movement of overseas Filipinos at Flor’s death showed to the Filipinos and the international community the real face of the LEP of the Philippine government.
On this day, we are lamenting the tragic death of Flor. We decry the prevailing condition that makes Filipino migrants vulnerable to abuses and exploitation.
However, let this day also inspire us to pursue our actions for the rights and wellbeing of migrant workers.
Let there be no more Flor. Such will only happen in a society that is free from imperialist hold, truly democratic, just, peaceful and genuinely serves the interest of the people and not of the oppressors.
Long live international solidarity!
Eni Lestari
IMA Chairperson
Tuesday, 10 February 2009
Tea towel display: Voicing our Message!
In 2008 the Regional Campaign for Recognition of Domestic Work as Work highlighted the campaign call through the Tea towel display:
Voicing our Message! Read more here:
Voicing our Message! Read more here:
Thursday, 28 August 2008
International Solidarity Day with Foreign Domestic Workers
CARAM Asia Statement
AMMAN, JORDAN, 28 August 2008: We are over 30 women and men from the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, United Kingdom, Jordan, Lebanon, Burma, Singapore, Malaysia, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Hong Kong SAR and Nepal. We have met in Amman, Jordan from the 25th to 28th of August 2008, for the Roundtable Meeting with multi-stakeholders on Foreign Domestic Workers’ issues in Jordan and the Campaign Strategies Workshop, organised by CARAM Asia, for its on-going “One Paid Day off Weekly” for domestic workers campaign. We have analysed the impact of labour migration for domestic work on women foreign domestic workers in the Middle East region. We are aware that the undervaluation of women’s work, the sponsorship system that is widely practiced in the region, and the remittance driven labour sending policies of origin countries make women FDWs susceptible to abuse, violence, and human rights violations, including their health rights, at all stages of migration.
This consultation and campaign strategies workshop takes forward the reflections and processes that were initiated when the campaign launched, at the third ASEAN Civil Society Conference (ACSC 3) in Singapore, a call to action for the recognition of domestic work as work by including this occupation in the national labour laws of countries. Such a call to action can only be achieved through the legal and social recognition of domestic work as work, subsequently realising the human and labour rights of domestic workers.
We, foreign domestic workers and strong advocates/activists of FDWs’ rights, express solidarity with the decades old, yet still ongoing, struggles of women domestic work against strong patriarchal systems that do not value women’s labour, reflected in the lack of legal protection for domestic workers, both foreign and national workers alike.
This has been an occasion for women domestic workers, community-based migrants’ organisations, migrant support groups, and non-governmental organisations to come together to reflect on and highlight the problems being faced by women FDWs, due to poverty and under or unemployment, being made worse by the rapid economic globalisation processes in origin countries, intensifying the women’s labour migration process.
It has been an occasion for us to reflect on the vital roles women FDWs play for the well-being of their families, communities, and the families that they work for, for the economies of both origin and destination countries, and within social reproduction systems of our society, all roles that need better recognition and valuation. While they provide a great deal for the well-being and function of families and society at large, their own health rights and the quality of life are extremely comprised due to the lack of labour rights in the occupation they work.
It has been an occasion for us to define strategies to counter the negative experiences of women FDWs, to define our vision of migration with rights and dignity, to draw strength from each other, and to bring synergy between our struggles across the regions.
We acknowledge that the cause of women domestic workers is gradually being recognised and that support is being extended by various groups. We are aware that there are some good employers, just as there are very many abusive employers. We do not demonise employers while we critique the structure in which labour migration for domestic work is being operated. The cyclical short-term structure of migration facilitates the enrichment of a handful of recruitment agencies and allows unscrupulous middle men to operate ruthlessly at the expense of foreign domestic workers. At the same time, guilt can also be directed towards origin governments who have been inefficient, or deficient, in protecting their citizens abroad.
Our Campaign demands that:
- Governments enact laws and adopt other measures to ensure that the rights of domestic workers are protected legally, and to change the national labour laws that do not protect domestic workers’ rights;
- The United Nations and International Labour Organisation (ILO) develop new mechanisms for the protection and realisation of domestic workers’ rights;
- Member States ratify the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families; and
- Governments develop redress mechanisms for more effective accountability of non-State actors (employers, recruitment agencies, brokers) for violations against domestic workers.
We call on support from everyone who believe in equality and justice for domestic workers, both national and foreign, by endorsing this statement on this important day for FDWs.
Monday, 25 August 2008
Join Forces to Protect Foreign Domestic Workers
AMMAN, JORDAN 26 August 2008: Migrants rights representatives from 15 countries today called for greater cooperation between the Jordanian authorities, international agencies and civil society for the protection of foreign domestic workers.
During a high-level roundtable forum on the situation of foreign domestic workers, the representatives welcomed Jordan’s recent move to amend the labour law to include the protection of all domestic workers but emphasised the need for implementation to begin as soon as possible. They were speaking on behalf of domestic worker associations and rights groups from origin and destination countries in Asia and the Middle East.
“We urge the Jordanian government to speedily enact the relevant by-laws to ensure the protection domestic workers, both Jordanian and foreign. Such a standardised and efficient approach will address the serious labour and human rights violations that too many migrant workers experience. It will also allow problems or disputes to be resolved before they become critical,” said Cynthia Gabriel, Regional Coordinator of CARAM Asia, a leading regional network working on the rights of migrant workers.
Last month, His Royal Highness King Abdullah the 2nd signed this amendment which was gazetted on August 17th 2008. This has coincided with growing public awareness of cases in which foreign domestic workers have been subjected to serious violations including physical abuse, non-payment of wages and denial of rest days.
“We welcome this positive development which will strengthen Jordan’s commitment to human rights and justice. We urge the Royal Jordanian government to encourage other countries in the region to adopt similar measures for the protection of domestic workers,” said Asem Rababa, President of the ADALEH Center for Human Rights Studies.
“We hope that the Jordanian government will work closely with civil society and migrant worker groups to ensure effective implementation of the law. Allowing migrant workers to unionise would help in this process,” said Eni Lestari, representative of Asian Migrant Coordination Body.
The high-level roundtable forum which was hosted by the ADALEH Center for Human Rights Studies and co-organised by UNIFEM and CARAM Asia was attended by representatives of the Jordanian government, the Solidarity Center, CARITAS Lebanon as well as groups from Bahrain, Bangladesh, Burma, Hong Kong SAR, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Lebanon, Malaysia, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Singapore and Thailand.
Wednesday, 2 July 2008
"Wage Increase Delayed is justice Denied"
Asian Migrants’ Coordinating Body (AMCB-IMA)Members from Indonesia, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand and the Philippines(The AMCB is a member of the International Migrants’ Alliance or IMA – a global alliance mainly of grassroots migrant organizations from 25 countries) Press Release01 July 2008For reference: Eni Lestari Spokesperson, Tel. No.: (852) 96081475
“Wage increase delayed is justice denied”Foreign maids march to press for immediate wage hike “Each day that a wage increase for migrant workers is delayed is a denial of justice.” This was declared today by Eni Lestari, spokesperson of the Asian Migrants’ Coordinating Body (AMCB) as hundreds of foreign domestic workers carried the call for an immediate wage increase for FDWs and the legislation of a minimum wage for all workers in the July 1st demonstration. “We are into the second half of the year already and still the HK government refuses to give us our share of the economic rebound through a substantial wage increase. Every day, we labor under the same condition, we work even longer hours, the HK government charges us the same fees and our plight is unchanged. The government shows its utter unconcern and disregard to our situation as the days go by,” she added. Early in June, news broke out that the government shall grant a HK$50 wage increase for FDWs. However, it remains unconfirmed up to now. For the past years, the results of the annual review of FDWs minimum allowable wage are announced on the second quarter of the year. “Now, the government is not only denying us a significant wage increase. It is withholding its decision that will result to the exemption of thousands more FDWs from any addition to the minimum wage for their next contract,” Lestari lamented. According to Lestari, hundreds of FDWs process their contracts everyday. She said that for Filipinos alone, a minimum of 400 contracts are processed everyday. This figure, she said, is roughly the same with Indonesians. “Each day, more and more of us have to process a contract under the current MAW level and cannot expect a wage hike for the next two years. With inflation and the increase in prices of many basic goods in Hong Kong, the deterioration of the economic condition of our families back home , and the dwindling value of our remittance, how can we survive without a wage hike?” she remarked. AMCB submitted its petition for a wage increase early this year. The group cited the economic recovery of Hong Kong as shown by its HK$100 billion budget as one of the major reasons for the wage increase. Lestari averred that the refusal of the government to grant the increase for FDWs also “reeks of discrimination.” “We are the first to suffer the brunt of policies that impact our livelihood. But we are also the last to be given even a little reprieve from hardships,” she said. Lestari, who is also the chairperson of the newly-founded International Migrants Alliance or IMA, relayed that they shall expose the HK government’s “insensitivity” to the migrant workers in the international community. “We shall gather the support of members of the IMA to put more pressure to the government to give in to our demands. Wage increase is a just fight for all migrants,” she remarked. The IMA is an alliance of more than 100 organizations of migrants, mostly grassroots, from 25 countries. It was established recently in HK and has resolved to launch campaigns on wage and job security among others. “The benefits of the economic rebound still have not trickled down to grassroots level. We still have to contend with hardships brought by past massive wage cuts, insignificant wage increases, and the continued collection of the levy. It is high time for the government to give us justice and answer our wage increase demand,” Lestari concluded.#
“Wage increase delayed is justice denied”Foreign maids march to press for immediate wage hike “Each day that a wage increase for migrant workers is delayed is a denial of justice.” This was declared today by Eni Lestari, spokesperson of the Asian Migrants’ Coordinating Body (AMCB) as hundreds of foreign domestic workers carried the call for an immediate wage increase for FDWs and the legislation of a minimum wage for all workers in the July 1st demonstration. “We are into the second half of the year already and still the HK government refuses to give us our share of the economic rebound through a substantial wage increase. Every day, we labor under the same condition, we work even longer hours, the HK government charges us the same fees and our plight is unchanged. The government shows its utter unconcern and disregard to our situation as the days go by,” she added. Early in June, news broke out that the government shall grant a HK$50 wage increase for FDWs. However, it remains unconfirmed up to now. For the past years, the results of the annual review of FDWs minimum allowable wage are announced on the second quarter of the year. “Now, the government is not only denying us a significant wage increase. It is withholding its decision that will result to the exemption of thousands more FDWs from any addition to the minimum wage for their next contract,” Lestari lamented. According to Lestari, hundreds of FDWs process their contracts everyday. She said that for Filipinos alone, a minimum of 400 contracts are processed everyday. This figure, she said, is roughly the same with Indonesians. “Each day, more and more of us have to process a contract under the current MAW level and cannot expect a wage hike for the next two years. With inflation and the increase in prices of many basic goods in Hong Kong, the deterioration of the economic condition of our families back home , and the dwindling value of our remittance, how can we survive without a wage hike?” she remarked. AMCB submitted its petition for a wage increase early this year. The group cited the economic recovery of Hong Kong as shown by its HK$100 billion budget as one of the major reasons for the wage increase. Lestari averred that the refusal of the government to grant the increase for FDWs also “reeks of discrimination.” “We are the first to suffer the brunt of policies that impact our livelihood. But we are also the last to be given even a little reprieve from hardships,” she said. Lestari, who is also the chairperson of the newly-founded International Migrants Alliance or IMA, relayed that they shall expose the HK government’s “insensitivity” to the migrant workers in the international community. “We shall gather the support of members of the IMA to put more pressure to the government to give in to our demands. Wage increase is a just fight for all migrants,” she remarked. The IMA is an alliance of more than 100 organizations of migrants, mostly grassroots, from 25 countries. It was established recently in HK and has resolved to launch campaigns on wage and job security among others. “The benefits of the economic rebound still have not trickled down to grassroots level. We still have to contend with hardships brought by past massive wage cuts, insignificant wage increases, and the continued collection of the levy. It is high time for the government to give us justice and answer our wage increase demand,” Lestari concluded.#
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